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The Hamish Macbeth Omnibus
Collection of the first 4 Hamish Macbeth novels by M C Beaton.
Contains:
Death of a Gossip
Death of a Cad
Death of an Outsider
Death of a Perfect Wife
Death of a gossip: When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joins the local fishing class she wastes no time in ruffling feathers - or should that be fins? - of those around her.Among the victims of her sharp tongue is Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbeth, yet not even Hamish thinks someone would seriously want to silence Lady Jane's shrill voice permanently - until her strangled body is fished out of the river.Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, Hamish must steer a course through the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find a murderer. But with a school of suspects who aren't willing to talk, and the dead woman telling no tales, Hamish may well be in over his head for he knows that secrets are dangerous, knowledge is power, and killers when cornered usually do strike again.
Death of a cad: When Priscilla Halburton-Smythe brings her London playwright fiancé home to Lochdubh, everyone in town is delighted... except for love-smitten Hamish Macbeth. Yet the affairs of his heart will have to wait.Vile, boorish Captain Bartlett, one of the guests at Priscilla's engagement party, has just been found murdered - shot while on a grouse hunt. Now with so many titled party guests as prime suspects, each with their own reason for snuffing out the despicable captain, Hamish must smooth ruffled feathers as he investigates the case... and catch a killer, before they fly the coop!
Death of an outsider: The most hated man in the most dour town in Scotland is sleeping with the fishes, or - more accurately - has been dumped into a tank filled with crustaceans. All that remains of the murdered victim are his bones. But once the lobsters have been shipped off to Britain's best restaurants, the whole affair quickly lands on the plate of Constable Hamish Macbeth.Exiled to the dreary outpost of Cnothan, Macbeth sorely misses his beloved Lochdubh, but before he can head back home he has to contend with a detective chief inspector who wants the murder hushed up, a dark-haired lassie who is out to seduce him, and a killer who has made mincemeat of his last victim, and will no doubt strike again...
Death of a perfect wife: Hamish Macbeth is savouring the delights of a Highland summer, but as fast as the rain rolls in from the loch his happy life goes to hell in a handbasket.The trouble begins when his beloved Priscilla Halburton-Smythe returns to Lochdubh with a new fiancé on her arm. His miseries multiply when clouds of midges descend on the town. And then a paragon of housewife perfection named Trixie Thomas moves into Lochdubh with her cowed husband in tow.The newcomer quickly convinces the local ladies to embrace low-cholesterol meals, ban alcohol and begin bird-watching. Soon the town's menfolk are up in arms and Macbeth must solve Lochdubh's newest crime - the mysterious poisoning of the perfect wife.
Contains:
Death of a Gossip
Death of a Cad
Death of an Outsider
Death of a Perfect Wife
Death of a gossip: When society widow and gossip columnist Lady Jane Winters joins the local fishing class she wastes no time in ruffling feathers - or should that be fins? - of those around her.Among the victims of her sharp tongue is Lochdubh constable Hamish Macbeth, yet not even Hamish thinks someone would seriously want to silence Lady Jane's shrill voice permanently - until her strangled body is fished out of the river.Now with the help of the lovely Priscilla Halburton-Smythe, Hamish must steer a course through the choppy waters of the tattler's life to find a murderer. But with a school of suspects who aren't willing to talk, and the dead woman telling no tales, Hamish may well be in over his head for he knows that secrets are dangerous, knowledge is power, and killers when cornered usually do strike again.
Death of a cad: When Priscilla Halburton-Smythe brings her London playwright fiancé home to Lochdubh, everyone in town is delighted... except for love-smitten Hamish Macbeth. Yet the affairs of his heart will have to wait.Vile, boorish Captain Bartlett, one of the guests at Priscilla's engagement party, has just been found murdered - shot while on a grouse hunt. Now with so many titled party guests as prime suspects, each with their own reason for snuffing out the despicable captain, Hamish must smooth ruffled feathers as he investigates the case... and catch a killer, before they fly the coop!
Death of an outsider: The most hated man in the most dour town in Scotland is sleeping with the fishes, or - more accurately - has been dumped into a tank filled with crustaceans. All that remains of the murdered victim are his bones. But once the lobsters have been shipped off to Britain's best restaurants, the whole affair quickly lands on the plate of Constable Hamish Macbeth.Exiled to the dreary outpost of Cnothan, Macbeth sorely misses his beloved Lochdubh, but before he can head back home he has to contend with a detective chief inspector who wants the murder hushed up, a dark-haired lassie who is out to seduce him, and a killer who has made mincemeat of his last victim, and will no doubt strike again...
Death of a perfect wife: Hamish Macbeth is savouring the delights of a Highland summer, but as fast as the rain rolls in from the loch his happy life goes to hell in a handbasket.The trouble begins when his beloved Priscilla Halburton-Smythe returns to Lochdubh with a new fiancé on her arm. His miseries multiply when clouds of midges descend on the town. And then a paragon of housewife perfection named Trixie Thomas moves into Lochdubh with her cowed husband in tow.The newcomer quickly convinces the local ladies to embrace low-cholesterol meals, ban alcohol and begin bird-watching. Soon the town's menfolk are up in arms and Macbeth must solve Lochdubh's newest crime - the mysterious poisoning of the perfect wife.
512 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 23, 2012
48 people are currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
M.C. Beaton
344 books6,027 followersLike her on Facebook!
Learn more on her website!
Marion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
Learn more on her website!
Marion Chesney Gibbons
aka: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Marion Chesney, Charlotte Ward, Sarah Chester.
Marion Chesney was born on 1936 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and started her first job as a bookseller in charge of the fiction department in John Smith & Sons Ltd. While bookselling, by chance, she got an offer from the Scottish Daily Mail to review variety shows and quickly rose to be their theatre critic. She left Smith’s to join Scottish Field magazine as a secretary in the advertising department, without any shorthand or typing, but quickly got the job of fashion editor instead. She then moved to the Scottish Daily Express where she reported mostly on crime. This was followed by a move to Fleet Street to the Daily Express where she became chief woman reporter. After marrying Harry Scott Gibbons and having a son, Charles, Marion went to the United States where Harry had been offered the job of editor of the Oyster Bay Guardian. When that didn’t work out, they went to Virginia and Marion worked as a waitress in a greasy spoon on the Jefferson Davies in Alexandria while Harry washed the dishes. Both then got jobs on Rupert Murdoch’s new tabloid, The Star, and moved to New York.
Anxious to spend more time at home with her small son, Marion, urged by her husband, started to write historical romances in 1977. After she had written over 100 of them under her maiden name, Marion Chesney, and under the pseudonyms: Ann Fairfax, Jennie Tremaine, Helen Crampton, Charlotte Ward, and Sarah Chester, she getting fed up with 1714 to 1910, she began to write detectives stories in 1985 under the pseudonym of M. C. Beaton. On a trip from the States to Sutherland on holiday, a course at a fishing school inspired the first Constable Hamish Macbeth story. They returned to Britain and bought a croft house and croft in Sutherland where Harry reared a flock of black sheep. But Charles was at school, in London so when he finished and both tired of the long commute to the north of Scotland, they moved to the Cotswolds where Agatha Raisin was created.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 7, 2014
Nice, easy-to-read stories. Not too demanding and quite addictive.
March 18, 2015
Funny relaxing reading.
April 23, 2018
A former colleague recommended these books to me and I am eternally grateful to him. I had already tried the Agatha Raisin books by the same author and have to admit that I didn't really take to them, despite several of my friends loving her work. But I was not disappointed by Hamish Macbeth and I have to say that, as someone who really enjoyed the television series, I found the books to be even better.
I love the way the character of the local policeman is described and how he endears himself to the reader. The characters are all something of caricatures but that all adds to the fun. The storyline ambles along gently, much like its protagonist. A subtle sense of humour is a constant undercurrent throughout and I found myself frequently smiling as I read. And it is all set against the beautiful backdrop of northern Scotland.
I am glad to see that this is a well populated series of books as I do suspect I may be following the dealings of PC Macbeth for some time to come. Question is - does he ever get his girl?
I love the way the character of the local policeman is described and how he endears himself to the reader. The characters are all something of caricatures but that all adds to the fun. The storyline ambles along gently, much like its protagonist. A subtle sense of humour is a constant undercurrent throughout and I found myself frequently smiling as I read. And it is all set against the beautiful backdrop of northern Scotland.
I am glad to see that this is a well populated series of books as I do suspect I may be following the dealings of PC Macbeth for some time to come. Question is - does he ever get his girl?
November 3, 2019
Quaint light read
These books are a light read but full of content.
The reader can escape to the Highlands and be in lochdubh.
Mind you ..... there seem to be a lot of murders for a small village
These books are a light read but full of content.
The reader can escape to the Highlands and be in lochdubh.
Mind you ..... there seem to be a lot of murders for a small village
May 4, 2020
These each got progressively better as they went along...
September 12, 2020
Hamish Macbeth Omnibus by MC Beaton
Lovely cosy stuff Just right for those of us in lockdown right now.
I prefer her Hamish Macbeth stories to the Aggatha Rasin ones.
Lovely cosy stuff Just right for those of us in lockdown right now.
I prefer her Hamish Macbeth stories to the Aggatha Rasin ones.
November 19, 2013
Highly absorbing
May 25, 2019
Loved these books have now moved onto the rest of the series.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews